Chapter 9: The Clown Was Actually Me
Bond may not have the guts for a big money-making scheme, but when it comes to picking up cash, he’s all in— and with style!
I mean, someone’s already set everything up. All that’s left is for him to add his name to the list. Isn’t that just picking up free money?
After hearing Xu Xiaofeng’s so-called “Eastern Wind Express” plan and realizing she even secured the city lord’s approval, he knew it was time to rake in the dough.
“Kiddo, your plan is quite avant-garde by my standards. Gotta hand it to you, the young ones have lots of ideas! However, this VIP system… it doesn’t really make sense. I think we need to tweak it a bit.”
Duh! I’m a post-21st century, new-age youth! Playing with you old fogies would be an absolute downgrade.
As for the VIP part, let’s just say you really don’t get it.
“Grandpa, I came up with this system after a lot of thought. I guarantee it works!”
“Huh? But the VIP and non-VIP benefits are basically non-existent! Plus, if you don’t use all the teleports, you waste them. Who in the world is going to buy that?”
The VIP card lasts ten days. A Silver VIP gets a hundred uses a day, Gold gets two hundred, and Diamond a whopping five hundred. Seriously, who could ever use all that?
And the pricing? Silver VIP is set at 999 gold coins, Gold at 1999, and Diamond at 4999. Even if a whole team pooled resources, using all those teleports would still cost a whole gold coin for just the VIP benefits…
Any normal person would see this VIP scheme is a total scam. Bond couldn’t believe there would be fools willing to sign up for VIP.
Xu Xiaofeng noticed Bond’s confusion but didn’t want to explain too much.
“Grandpa, how about we make a bet? If the VIP system runs smoothly, you give me half a percent of our share back; if it doesn’t work, I’ll give you one percent. What do you say?”
“Wait… are you serious?”
“Absolutely!”
“Hold on, we need at least twenty… no, fifty people for the VIP!”
“No problem!”
“Then it’s settled!”
A smile spread across Bond’s face. This was practically free money! The girl was way too young and clueless about adult matters.
Xu Xiaofeng had the same grin. With Grandpa half-buried in the ground, it was about time to rake in some gold coins. Let’s just say he completely misunderstood the players, especially the rich ones.
Soon enough, the duo finalized their plan and got to work.
When the players logged in one by one, they were greeted by a flurry of banners.
“Eastern Wind Express—delivering faster than the wind!”
“Tired of back-and-forth running? Eastern Wind Express solves it in just one second!”
“Eastern Wind Express—saving your time, cherishing your life.”
The players were left with a bunch of question marks. What the heck is this?
Upon getting closer and figuring out the details… what the heck! I was just complaining yesterday about how big the map is and how much time running around wastes, and today they’ve updated with a delivery system? This is some serious official stuff!
Teleportation? You can teleport people too?! Mom, I don’t have to run around anymore!
The players were overjoyed.
But as they dug deeper into it… wait a minute! One gold coin to teleport one set of items? The delivery fee is almost as much as my goods!
One hundred coins a delivery, and that’s for one set of items—this is way more expensive than in real life!
A “set” is merely one grid in the backpack. Gear and key items take up one slot each, but consumables, like low-level potions, can be stacked—99 of them for a single set.
To sum it up, this pricing is outrageously absurd.
“d*mn, the officials are seriously greedy.”
“I’d rather d*e than use your delivery service. Brothers, let’s unite and boycott this!”
However, amidst all this outrage and outrage, a group of players had already bought their items in the shop and were heading towards the teleportation array.
“A bunch of fools, broke losers. What’s the problem with spending a little? They have no idea how much time and manpower this feature saves for our guild. The resources saved can help us snatch progress and rewards like crazy.”
For these rich players—or those who had already planned to roll with the rich folks—early game progress was the most critical factor.
Speeding up the progress in the early game is key; advantages are just lying around waiting to be snatched.
“There’s no helping it, some people just won’t understand these things. That’s why we’re the pros, and they’re the ones getting played.”
They may even be akin to game laborers, but having a way in puts them a step above most regular players.
Soon, the first group of awakened players made it to the Grand Square, where the teleportation array was located right in the center.
But guess what? The teleportation array was covered by a big cloth with a fancy new pattern that looked super mysterious. At that moment, Xu Xiaofeng was setting up a table and chair, swinging her little feet in boredom.
The players noticed the little girl with paper and pen and halted.
“This NPC looks oddly familiar.”
“Isn’t this the one selling nuclear bombs yesterday? I won’t forget that face!”
“So she’s sitting here now, does that mean…?”
“She’s got quite the side jobs, huh?”
“I’m reporting this! Child labor!”
Hearing the players’ complaints, Xu Xiaofeng rolled her eyes, thinking: I’m the boss here!
She quickly switched to a sweet smile, “Good morning, big brothers and sisters! I’m here to help because Grandpa Bond let me sit here.”
Perfect character maintenance, and all the blame goes to Bond; he’s the one taking the cash!
The little girl had a killer charm; one smile melted everyone’s hearts.
“Oh my, how nice! You’re so young and already helping your grandpa!”
Beloved ones, there’s still more in this chapter. Please click the next page to continue reading; it only gets more exciting!
“Little sister is just cut out to be a mascot!”
Players rushed to approach, ready to send their packages, but Xu Xiaofeng stopped them.
“Hold on, big brothers and sisters! Grandpa wants me to read this first.” She fetches a paper and pretends to read.
It was nothing more than an introduction to her meticulously planned VIP service—oh, and blame it all on Bond!
Sure enough, as soon as they heard about this ridiculous VIP, many began to curse.
They were willing to pay to send deliveries, but they weren’t fools; signing up for VIP felt like being trapped, especially when there was barely any discount!
This idea mirrored Bond’s; once you’ve got VIP signups, you’ve got to give something back.
But that was just the tip of the iceberg—some players recognized the second layer. They caught onto the fact that VIP members had priority treatment.
With a massive player base, even if sixty to seventy percent wouldn’t use the delivery service, the remaining number was still staggering.
So they were actually selling privileges! And the rich loved privileges!
Being above everyone else feels great!
Without a hint of hesitation, several players immediately signed up for Silver VIP, and one even went for Gold VIP, creating quite a stir.
“Fools! Broke losers! What don’t you understand? What’s worth spending is worth spending. If you can’t afford it, go play something else!”
The others exchanged looks. Just a moment ago, they were ridiculing others, and now they were the ones being mocked for the same reasons.
The clown was actually me?
And Xu Xiaofeng watched the whole show with glee. Technically, she was the playwright of this drama.
